Stroke of Genius
by Chrys-DASL
Summary: When numerous people in Elwood City begin having strokes, people start to notice and wonder why the sudden increase. Young Kate gets an idea, but she needs help figuring out if it's true. With Brain's help, she solves the mystery. But can they solve it in time to save lives? From my Disasters series. Rated T for adult themes, scary content.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Arthur entered the hospital room with the standard bouquet of flowers and a few balloons, all of which read GET WELL SOON in varying fonts. He hated getting things like this, but he knew it was expected of him in moments like these, moments when his one and only mother was laid up in a hospital bed, her mouth slightly open because the right side of her face was now useless. She'd had a stroke, and she expected her only son to be there.

"Hey, Arthur, how goes it?" David asked almost too cheerfully, pulling his son into a hug. Ever since Arthur left for college, he and his family rarely saw each other. Arthur got his degree in political science, then moved out of state to take a job with a magazine's politics department. He was also working on a Master's degree while he was there. All of this left him too busy to come home, something he now regretted as he eyed his older father, who was grey around the edges, and his mother, whose contorted face looked unnatural.

"Wow, I thought she was better than this," Arthur muttered, eying his mother carefully. Drool puddled out of her mouth and landed on a white rag that had been placed on her shoulder. Her hair was a mess and her glassy eyes seemed fixed on something no one else could see.

David sighed and retook his chair by the window. He let Arthur put down his gifts on the table with the others before filling him in, "She wasn't found for almost four hours. I'd gone to work for a little while to help oversee some wedding," he said, stopping to smile, "I still don't remember the couple," he grinned, shaking his head before continuing, "and I came home to find her in the middle of the kitchen unconscious. I could tell right away it was a stroke. Her face just looked wrong, and I knew then what happened."

"What do the doctors say?" Arthur asked, adding frantically, "There must be a way to fix her!"

"I'm afraid not, Arthur. They went in and removed the clot that started the problem, then they put her on blood thinners after getting rid of a few more blockages. They knew that would prevent future strokes, that and this little anti-clotting device in one of the arteries leading up. I don't know what all the say," David said with a hint of anger, "but they promised us she could fight this and make some rebounds, maybe learn to communicate again."

"But they wouldn't say 'talk,' 'walk,' or 'be independent,' would they?" Arthur questioned fiercely. David solemnly shook his head. Arthur sighed, "I knew that would happen. Buster called me a few weeks ago to say his aunt had a stroke, his father's sister. She was laid up just like Mom. Then she had another stroke a week later. They couldn't bring her back," Arthur whispered, his eyes falling on his mother, who looked so fragile in that hospital bed.

David put his hand on his son's forearm, "Listen, they're doing all they can. I've looked into it, and there's this lovely facility by the house. College students come through quite a bit, some as volunteers but others learning their crafts, and it seemed like a nice place."

Arthur stared at him, "The same place you put Grandma Thora?"

"Look I had no choice in the matter," David said, his voice a hiss because he'd tried to whisper too hard. "Listen, my siblings insisted she stay around here so her friends could visit, not that she knew any of them. I had no choice, and they did everything they could for her. She died in her sleep. I had an autopsy done and they proved it," he said quickly.

Arthur was still skeptical. His grandmother had lived a solid eighty-four years, much longer than many of the grandmothers and grandfathers his classmates and friends had. The only downside was her dementia, which onset a few months after her diabetes diagnosis. Her sugars went haywire, then her brain, and they had no choice, or so everyone said. All Arthur knew was that his grandmother went into that facility when he was a freshman in college. She was gone just six months later, and he still wondered what he could've done to save her.

David exhaled heavily, "Kate wanted me to ask you if you minded coming by the house. She's been working on a school project like mad, so please go over there. Maybe you can tell me what she's actually working on. She needs help but she refuses to ask me for anything," David said, looking up as some nurses ran past. "Hmm, they must be getting in someone else. I'm going to get some coffee and take a peek at them. Do you mind sitting with your mother?" he asked, not even waiting for a response before ducking into the hallway.

Arthur sat in silence, listening to some neighbor's television as he wondered what his family had done to deserve this. Jane had been so healthy, and now that Kate was about to graduate high school, she was starting to find new ways to fill her time. She'd work in the mornings from home, but in the afternoons she was always doing something.

Now she wasn't able to do anything. She couldn't even keep her mouth closed because her face was paralyzed, and Arthur doubted she'd do much more.

David came in and sat down with a cup of coffee, his eyes glued to the floor. After a few minutes of very awkward silence, he finally looked up, "You won't believe who they just brought in here."

"Dad, I understand you're bored to tears, but spying on other hospital patients is a little cold, don't you think?" Arthur asked.

"You'd hear about it anyway. Ed Crosswire just came in. He was elected to city council a few terms ago, but now he's in here too. He's just like your mom, and word is Millicent had a stroke two months ago. That's so strange," he said, his words trailing off.

Arthur stood up, "Well, if Mom wakes up, tell her I said hello. I think I'll go over and see Kate now."

"Alright," David muttered without even looking up.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Arthur's childhood home was exactly how he remembered it. The house had been repainted recently, maybe a year ago, in the same yellow he knew. The lawn was still the same, plus or minus a few plants as some died and needed to be replaced. The biggest difference was the backyard, which was now devoid of playground equipment and kids' toys. Instead there were lawn chair sets and a rock garden where the sandbox used to be.

Still, he rang the doorbell instead of barging in. DW just walked in, always saying "Well I grew up here," but Arthur felt it was wrong. Just because you grew up somewhere didn't make it home anymore, and now that Jane probably wasn't coming home, he felt the need to ring the doorbell even more.

Kate came to the door wearing one of his old concert t-shirts, hand-me-downs from Cousin Mo, and some cut-off shorts. She gestured him inside without speaking, but as she walked back up the stairs, she started talking:

"I'm glad you actually came over to help me. I'm working on something really, really important, but if Dad finds out, he'll probably have me admitted to the mental ward. It's big, really, and I'm surprised more people aren't noticing it. Well, some are noticing it, but most people aren't," Kate rambled, sinking down into a spinning computer chair. She turned her legs into the chair and swung back to face the keyboard, not even bothering to make sure her brother actually followed.

But Arthur did follow and he heard every word, not that he understood a single bit of it.

Kate continued, "I've been looking into some numbers. Some are based on Facebook posts and other social media, or word of mouth, and others are like real, cold-hard facts I found online, and look," Kate said, pulling up an Excel spreadsheet she'd clearly made herself. The color scheme was pink and purple with white cell lines—

Arthur forced himself to look past the girlish scheme and examine the data. He knew how to reach charts, namely thanks to the great Mr. Ratburn, who had eventually taught all of the Read children. DW picked up on some of it, but Kate seemed to ignore quite a few parts, such as titling your graph and actually saying what the numbers mean.

"Well?" Kate asked flatly.

"I have no idea what this is. It's just numbers, and the colors are distracting. Sometimes color doesn't help," Arthur warned.

Kate scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Look at the window bar. I know it's pink too, but I think your retinas will stay intact. Do you see what the spreadsheet is called?"

"It's a workbook like this, and it's called STROKES IN ELWOOD CITY. Is that what you've been working on, seeing who all has had strokes?" Arthur asked.

"Of course I have. I started at first just to see how often this happened, then I found this spreadsheet and downloaded it. Those numbers are from the last ten years, concrete numbers that have been made official. These numbers from the last four years are speculative because they haven't been proven with cross-referencing or whatever. This year's numbers are all estimates, math I did myself and backed up here," she said, clicking to another page done up in a blinding combination of blue and green, "This is a list of everyone I know that's had a stroke."

"That's a lot of people. And it's just from this past year?" Arthur asked. Kate nodded and watched as her brother sank into a chair beside her, "Well, you need to add one more. Dad said he saw Ed Crosswire getting wheeled in and he looked just like Mom. And Millicent had a stroke a few months ago," he added, watching her type information into new cells. He looked to his sister and tried to read her thoughts, see what she was thinking, but he knew if he just waited long enough—

"We've already doubled the average, and even last year's higher numbers don't compensate for this. You shouldn't have almost the same number as last year before summer has really started. It's like the beginning of June, not the end of November. Something big is happening here that's causing people to have strokes, Mom included," Kate said with the urgency of a child.

Arthur forgot how young she was quite a bit. She was so much smarter than him and DW, probably him and DW combined, and she always knew when to talk and when to keep her mouth shut, unless it was something she felt was important. She was always that way, and he doubted that was something that would ever change about her.

"Well, you need to do research on strokes, see what makes them happen. This very well could be a side effect of the Baby Boomer era, where a lot of people are reaching the same age at the same time, which makes numbers seem higher when they're—"

"Don't tell me they're not because they are," Kate interrupted with a fierce tone. She kept it up, "Listen here, Arthur. I know what I'm doing, and I've already looked into what causes strokes and when people should start having them. People your age can have them, but that doesn't mean it happens very often. Yet you've got two classmates who've had strokes. Fern and Sue Ellen are both receiving at-home care. Their moms lead the pack, and they liveblog everything. I know they were too young to have strokes, namely because you're not the only one with a classmate in the hospital."

The way she said it told him exactly who it was. Arthur's eyes instinctively fell on the large board Kate added to what was once his wall when he lived at home. On that board, his father glued a bulletin board to make a custom-sized wall mount for Kate's things. Where DW put up pictures of people in bands that she printed out on the home computer, Kate had real photographs of her and her best friends, Mei-Lin Barnes and Candice Jones, a girl they met in preschool and accepted into their circle, _accepted_ being the key word. Even Candice knew she was just someone they allowed near them. Kate and Mei-Lin were the real BFF's, and now—

"Mei-Lin had a stroke two weeks ago. Binky came by and told me what happened because their parents just couldn't. She was about to get a scholarship for how smart she was, but now? Now she's just like mom turned out to be, drooling on herself and unable to really do much of anything. They say the prognosis is terrible. They cleared out the clots, but they couldn't fix the damage," Kate said, looking up to Arthur with tears in her eyes, "And the worst part? Mom I understand because we didn't find her for a while. I was doing something for school and was waiting for them to text me to come home for dinner. I just thought they'd forgotten, but no, Dad was dealing with her. And I was okay. I mean, I wish I would've gone home to work there. Instead Mom had to lay there for four hours.

"But Mei-Lin? She had her stroke at dinner, in front of everyone. They were out to eat just a block from the hospital. The stroke was so bad it put her in Mom's place despite the close proximity. And all of these others? You said it yourself that Ed Crosswire looked just like Mom. Well, Millicent did too. She was in a boutique and a nurse was there, like an RN not some clean-up nurse who only deals with babies. Ed? He was either in his office or on the job or something. He was probably surrounded by people, taken for help immediately, and in surgery without question, especially with all the money he has. But that's where everyone is even again. Anyone who's had a stroke like this has the worst kind—left side, very large. They aren't coming back from it."

Arthur cleared his throat before nodding, "I see your point, Kate. I agree with you. It's strange that so many people are having the same kind of stroke regardless of age. I just…I don't know what else we can do. You can't handle this on your own."

Kate scoffed, "Dad sent you here but told you to make me stop. Okay, I can do that, but only if you let me talk to someone who can do something about this."

"Alright," Arthur agreed, "I know just who to take you to."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Arthur had seen Brain recently, just as Brain had seen Arthur, but neither of them had seen each other in person. Technology allowed them to talk online in a way that made in-person meetups almost implausible. Both of them were working men, and that was why Arthur needed him now, why he demanded an in-person appearance at his office. He'd added that Kate would be with him, a request Brain almost refused. He wanted to see Kate, yes, and catch up with one of the Read sisters he'd watch grow up, but his important profession made him wary of allowing people into his office.

Kate knew exactly who they were going to see as soon as she saw the building, and she knew by the awkward way her brother and his childhood friend stood to greet each other that this was far deeper than she once realized.

She knew that Brain was a part of Elwood City University by the building, which was named after someone Kate didn't know. But she did recognize the department name—STATISTICS. Brain was a doctor of mathematics (and he had numerous other degrees too, but most of them were in either math or science), and he was one step away from being the head of the department.

Kate knew statistics thanks to school, so she realized right away why they were here. Brain must deal with census information for the department, or at least he had access to very detailed census information, which would allow him to know just about anything about anyone who was documented by the government. Hospital information was extra, but seeing that the university's medical departments had a good bit of Elwood City General Hospital under their control, it wasn't much of a leap to assume they knew just about everything that went on there, not necessarily by person but by ailment.

Brain cleared his throat to break the awkward silence, "Well, you told me your sister noticed a pattern that you wanted me to look into. Kate, why don't you and I discuss the matter in here?" he questioned, gesturing to a nice office filled with mathy knick-knacks—posters by Esher, the bouncing balls, and several geometric figures, alone and in puzzles, lined the room. Kate stepped in first and studied them while Brain settled behind his desk. Arthur, who knew every bit of the office thanks to his online chats, stood in the corner to listen.

"When my mom had her stroke, I began to think about all the people who have had strokes lately, so I started an Excel sheet using a starter data workbook I found online," Kate explained, pulling out her tablet and passing it to Brain, "I made a list of everyone I found online to add up for this year's total, but there's a spike, and I feel like it's one of those spikes that shouldn't happen. Arthur suggested Baby Boomers because they're one of the largest populations and they're old, but look at the young people on that list."

"Yes, yes," Brain nodded, "and I'm afraid I have several more to add to this. Some people moved away, but Arthur and I keep in touch online with several classmates. George, in Nevada, married a girl who moved to Elwood City High School during our junior year. She has had a stroke after childbirth, which is typical and minor compared to the others. Maria's fiancé, who was a year below us in school at ECHS had one of these debilitating strokes just a few months ago. He's still in a vegetative state in a nursing home in Maine."

Arthur stepped forward, "How widespread is this among our age group?" he questioned.

Brain raised an eyebrow, "Among our age group? Not as many as the thirty-somethings, the people who would be considered part of Catherine's generation, plus those in the next. Baby Boomers are included as well, but many of theirs are the standard age-related strokes, many of which are minor and are cured by typical methods. What Kate has noticed, and what I too have been studying for the last four months or so, are the sudden debilitating strokes, the ones that hit on the left side and are too intrusive to treat, even with advancements."

Kate's eyes lit up despite the tragedies this meant, "But what could cause such a thing?" she asked, turning to Arthur and saying excitedly, "I told you I was onto something!"

"It was Dad who wasn't convinced. I believed you as soon as you showed me that document," Arthur said, looking up to Brain, "So, theories?" he asked.

"I've asked a group of graduate students in my population studies class to do detailed journals on every single victim, all of them. You and your father will need to speak with one about your mother. I've been meaning to call you, but they're happening at an increased rate. I've actually considered calling the CDC or at least a larger university," Brain said with a worried look.

Arthur sank onto the other chair in the office, "The Center of Disease Control? You want to call them because you think this could be an epidemic?"

"One like we've never seen before," Brain nodded, "but different colleagues and the students themselves have a different theory. Everyone working with the situation has different ideas, and many seem quite valid. One student noticed many of her victims were active or mostly active, as one had recently stopped exercising to have a knee replacement surgery to make running easier. According to his physicians, he'll do good to blink on his own again."

"Active adults," Arthur nodded as Kate pulled out her phone and began taking notes.

But Brain interrupted them, "Not just adults. Some teens have had the strokes, a few children too. The children were from elsewhere, but we've had a few teens. Kate, I believe you knew Mei-Lin as well."

Kate nodded sadly, "Yes, and I've thought of talking with her parents, but I didn't want to intrude. This is really hard on them, and Binky too. I don't want to get in their way or—"

"I think I have a way for you to be included without being fully intrusive. They've given one of our students permission to search their house, as well as interview them about Mei-Lin's habits. You can go along and help with the process, and I can see about getting you credit for school to join our project," Brain smiled, his smile quickly fading as he adding, "but I fear this will grow far larger in coming days. A colleague has called some university contacts of his, two in California and three or four sprinkled around the South and Midwest. He's waiting to get the numbers back, but judging by their tones—"

"This is nationwide. I'm okay with that, I really am. I mean, I thought about going into law enforcement, but this is just as exhilarating and just as…justice," she stammered, looking up to Arthur, "You'll convince Dad to let me do it?" she asked.

"Of course," Arthur nodded, "and I'll get DW to help, but I think he'll be okay with it. But we have to tell him what we know. I think he's already picking up on it. He sent me this text earlier today," Arthur said, handing Kate his phone after finding the text.

Kate was floored, and Arthur's face paled again as Kate passed the phone to Brain. He too blanched as they all realized that another person had been effected, a person they loved dearly—Mr. Ratburn.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

David looked up to his children. The hospital cafeteria was sterile despite the bright green tables and the art on the walls from various children who were staying in the hospital. They were eating dinner here, and while it looked like a restaurant-quality meal, the Read's knew they were in a place they didn't want to be. Kate had a hard time eating her food, and David had skipped dinner altogether.

David sighed, "So you told me you went on an important mission today in order to help your sister with her project. What happened?" he questioned, his eyes locked on Arthur.

"Well, I'll let her explain it to you," Arthur said, turning to Kate.

Without hesitation, Kate told him everything from the beginning, how she noticed more people were having strokes and began looking at the numbers. Now Brain, well, Dr. Powers, would be including her in the study his graduate-level class was doing in hopes of finding out more about the victims, pending David's permission.

David sat back with a stunned expression. His eyes turned to Arthur again, "I see my text was useful to you. Nigel got here around two or three, I think, looking worse than Mr. Crosswire and your mother combined. He too wasn't found for many hours, but they were able to remove several clots throughout his brain. They say he'd probably been having small strokes for months without even realizing it."

"How do you not know if you've had a stroke?!" a voice demanded. David turned, and as he did, Arthur saw another face from his past: Muffy Crosswire. Muffy repeated herself but a little more politely, "Sorry, but did I hear you right? Mr. Ratburn had strokes without even realizing it? He was a prophet. How could he not know?"

"He kept a diary that his sister found near him when she came to check on him. She told me about it in the vending room upstairs, and she said he'd been taking these health supplements that claimed to have side effects. He thought they were just working for him, then he didn't show up for work. They called her and asked her to check in, so she did," David explained. "What about your parents? Were they taking any supplements like that?"

Muffy scoffed, "My mother would hurl anything down her gullet to help herself stay young, so I wouldn't doubt it. She'd been pushing some miracle vitamin on the family for months before she had her stroke. Now she's about as useful as the celery she had every morning for breakfast."

Kate nodded, a twinkle in her eye, "And your father was taking the supplements, to please her?" she inquired.

"I doubt it," Muffy said, shaking her head, "No, no, maybe she did get to him. I'll text Bailey. He managed to resist her charms, but he's been able to get away with things like that for years," she said, using her thumb to send a quick text before looking up to the Read's with sad eyes, "Do you think something like a vitamin could give people strokes?"

"If it's tainted, then yes," Arthur replied in a low voice, "but they would know if it was tainted and recall it."

"Not if the FDA didn't approve it," Kate said with excitement in her voice, "Arthur, you need to call Brain and have them look into this. If a bunch of people were taking a drug the Food and Drug Administration didn't approve first, then that could be a huge problem."

"You're working with Brain too?" Muffy asked. "Hmm, they called me to ask about my dad, Brain did, but it was for his department. Do you think they can figure it out?"

"I think we just did," Arthur said, reaching down to his phone as it buzzed on the table. Brain had the same eureka moment that Kate had: Many of the victims were taking organic vitamins as part of their healthy lifestyle, and most of the families had turned over the supplements along with their other medication when they knew about it.

David paled, "I've been taking them too, and so has Jane. They said they were healthy on the label, but they did mention side effects if you read the side of the bottle. I knew it wasn't right for fingers to tingle like that—"

"Dad, you have to get help!" Kate cried, standing up so fast that she caught the attention of everyone else in the room. She demanded he go to the emergency department, and Arthur helped her. Together they got him into a wheelchair and went with an attendant to that side of their hospital, leaving their half-eaten dinner behind.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

David was lucky, very lucky. After describing his symptoms to the attendant in charge of admission, he was immediately rushed to a CT scan so they could check for dangerous clots. The machine, which had improved greatly in the last five years, picked up on several small ones throughout his body, including a few in his brain. He was rushed into surgery, where the same life-saving treatment that couldn't help Jane was done on him…except it worked. David woke up without any tingling sensations in a hospital room with his wife, who was still the same drooling statue she'd been when he went under.

David had looked at her in horror before, but now he meant it. The supplement they'd started taking together in an attempt to get healthier had nearly killed her, and it might as well have killed her because of the rough shape she was in now. His operation meant he was safe, as long as he continued a regiment of blood thinners, but worry swept through him. He knew that was a popular supplement nationwide, namely because a friend of theirs who had moved to New Hampshire—small town New Hampshire—told Jane about it in the first place. If it had spread that far then it was everywhere, possibly even in other countries.

While Arthur sat at the hospital with his parents, Kate took her first trip with the graduate student, Lacey Mills, to the Barnes household. When they arrived, it was just their parents, but Kate could tell by the bumps from Mei-Lin's bedroom that she was here. When Binky emerged removing a pair of surgical gloves, she knew her best friend had been moved here so they could take care of her at home. Judging by the extra car in the driveway, a nurse had been dispatched there too.

"Kate, we're sorry we couldn't speak to you about this," Mrs. Barnes began, snatching up a Kleenex from the box her husband passed to her. He grabbed a palmful before nodding in agreement to the girl that had been their second daughter growing up.

"We're here to figure out what's going on," Kate smiled, "and while I'm aware it won't do much to help Mei-Lin, we might be able to help other people."

"How do you mean?" Mr. Barnes inquired as Binky, his spitting image now that he was an adult, stood behind him.

Lacey told them their theory, "We've discovered a link between the local victims that could be part of a nationwide problem. We think that something the victims ingested was possibly the reason behind Mei-Lin's strokes and the many others that have happened."

Binky stepped out from behind his father's chair, "So you're telling us the same thing that caused Mei-Lin's stroke caused Mr. Ratburn's stroke and your mom's? What would all three of them take in that would connect them? Mr. Ratburn is an old man, your mom middle-aged, and Mei-Lin a child."

"That's why we need to make sure there's a real link before we get head over heels about this," Lacey said firmly, standing up, "I need to see your daughter's medicine cabinet or pill box, anywhere she kept medication that she took on a regular basis."

Mrs. Barnes looked confused, "The only thing she took was a multi-vitamin. I've been taking it for a while because my girlfriend in Connecticut said it would help my tiredness during the day. Mei-Lin had the same issue because of her rigorous studies, so we've been taking them together. I'll go get the bottle," she said, disappearing into the kitchen. She came out a moment later with a bottle Kate recognized instantly—it was the same brand her mother took.

Mr. Barnes swallowed, unable to speak, as Lacey put the bottle into a quart-sized plastic bag. Once she sealed it, she looked up with a serious expression, "I don't wish to alarm you, but as soon as we're done, you need to go to the emergency room. David Read was taking the same regiment as his wife, the same regiment as you, and he'd be just like her soon if he didn't go. I don't want to alarm you, I really don't, but I'm going off experience—"

"I'll get the car, honey. Son, help her in. You can stay here with your sister," Mr. Barnes said in a serious voice, his sad exterior suddenly broken. He went into the kitchen and grabbed his keys with the quickness of a soldier, and he barely nodded to his guests before disappearing out the front door.

Lacey sighed, "Do you think I was too harsh there?"

"No, you probably just saved her life," Kate said, her voice barely a whisper as her eyes moved up the hallway. She then turned to Binky, "I know she can't say anything, but can I see her?"

"I think that'd be best. She's in hospice care. She has a feeding tube because Mom couldn't stand the thought of not feeding her, but she probably won't last too much longer. She can barely breathe," Binky whispered with a solemn tone.

Kate nodded and went with him up the hall. A breathing machine was there along with several others. A nurse in a bright pink outfit sat next to the bed reading an issue of _People_ in between glances up at a soap opera on the television in Mei-Lin's room. Kate didn't recognize her friend in the bed, but she saw what Binky meant. She had to watch closely to see if Mei-Lin was even breathing despite the mask over her nose and mouth supplying her with pressurized oxygen.

"Mom couldn't let her stay in a hospital either. We're wiping out her college fund, but we won't need it," Binky murmured, sinking onto a pink beanbag. "Will my mom be okay?"

"My dad was," Kate nodded, sitting on the floor across from him adding, "I mean, it was scary to see him go through that, but I knew he'd be okay. I got the same feeling with your mom. We caught it before it got any worse, and now, thanks to these developments, Brain can tell everyone else. Soon the whole world will know that there are vitamins causing strokes, and they'll stop it."

"Maybe, maybe not," Binky whispered, looking up at the bulletin board on his sister's wall. It was exactly like Kate's with many of the same pictures. He sighed, "I never thought it would be this way, but I'm glad she's at home. I just want to take care of her, so I am. I won't get to do that much longer. Hospice says it'll be any day now."

"It'll be good for her," Kate heard herself say. She blushed, "I didn't mean it—"

"No, I've been thinking the same thing," he smiled weakly. He looked up at his sister's bed, but he couldn't see her because of the way it was angled. He sighed, "She shouldn't have to live like this. I'd kill her myself if I knew it would help her, if it would help me. But that wouldn't do any good. I give it a few days, then she'll be free. Mom will have her cremated. Whatever's left after the amulets will be spread over the garden, by the tree."

Kate couldn't help but smile, "Her favorite reading spot."

Binky nodded, "I asked Mrs. Turner to supply me with any library books too old to keep, ones she would've liked. I plan to bring her one every two weeks then take it away. I'll keep all of them, no matter how soggy they get."

"Oh, Binky, send me some too!" Kate cried, falling into his arms. They cried together until Lacey appeared in the doorway. She stood there solemnly until they were finished, then she drove Kate home in silence. Kate would have to recover, but she also knew she'd have to sit this one out. A supplement available nationwide that was giving people strokes? That was something much bigger than a high school student could handle.

A/N: I hated writing this. Sorry for all the sadness guys.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX—EPILOGUE

The night was a strange mix of emotions. David and Mrs. Barnes were both saved thanks to their proactive treatments, but late in the night, everyone got the call that Mei-Lin had passed away at home. Mrs. Barnes was devastated, but her husband and son were with her, though that provided little comfort. Now that she knew it was the vitamin she had taken, the vitamin that she pushed on her teen daughter, that killed her, she and everyone in their circle wanted to combat the dangerous effects.

Early the next morning, Brain entered his office and picked his ringing phone off the hook. It was a man from the Food and Drug Administration, a Dr. Richmond, calling about launching a nation-wide recall. He needed Dr. Powers' reports, all of them, plus any evidence they had. An agent would arrive on the earliest flight—

"Hell, they're probably there now," Dr. Richmond laughed, clearing his throat, "This is major. We need everything you've got now so we can pass it off to the national media. Weren't there some people who sought treatment, people you saved?"

"Two," Brain confirmed, passing off David and Mrs. Barnes' names to the doctor, "and we feel this is the best way to approach the recall. Stop taking the supplement immediately and report to a local medical center as fast as possible to have the dangerous clots removed."

Dr. Richmond nodded, "That is what we are proposing. I'm surprised you all figured it out before the CDC did. We've been in contact with them for months because of the rise in strokes. They've been sending things to our lab, and we've even had these vitamins sent to us, but they seemed not to contain anything dangerous. Now that you've discovered that is the one and only link between your cases, there must be something dangerous within them. We'll begin testing immediately, and the news outlets already know about everything. We just need to feed them the facts."

The call ended without any goodbye's, but Brain knew this was no time for standard niceties. He flipped on his computer and pulled up CNN on his computer. A video headline was listed as BREAKING NEWS containing information about the recall and rash of strokes. Brain watched it and realized things were far worse than they realized:

"The Food and Drug Administration has announced a nationwide recall on a popular vitamin supplement that is said to cause debilitating strokes. Officials say millions have already been effected, and if you or anyone you know has been taking the pills to stop immediately, flush them down the drain, and get to a hospital stat. New York City hospitals have confirmed an influx of patients who have taken the pills, and doctors confirm most need life-saving treatments to avoid having any more strokes," an anchor said with an emotional tone.

Their partner's jaw dropped in amazement, "More strokes?"

"That is the shocking thing in this case. Apparently the bottle lists symptoms similar to small strokes, such as numbness and tingling, which keeps people from seeking treatment. As the strokes go untreated, the situation only gets worse, putting them at higher risk of having a major stroke. As this is a new discovery, the FDA and CDC are unsure of how many people have passed away because of these strokes, but they have said that multiple age ranges have been effected. This is not an old or young thing—"

"It's effecting every part of the population that took these supplements," their partner jumped in, shaking his head.

Brain closed out of the browser window and thought about how bad this could get. Because many people supported the brand, there might be people who choose not to seek treatment, or people who choose not to stop taking the pills, because they believe the media is lying to them and attacking their healthy lifestyle. He'd studied numerous dangerous recalls in the past, and while they weren't as widespread or detrimental to the public, he knew there was a standard percentage of people who ignore government instructions and keep on as if everything is fine. There are more people who feel they can't stop for whatever reason in recalls that involve things such as car tires, staple foods like bread or rice, or furniture. He'd seen it before, and he knew this would be another one of those recalls.

Worst of all, because this was spinning out of control, he wouldn't be able to see the data until much later. He was a college professor, and while he was leading his department, he knew the federal government took precedent. He and his team might've discovered the link first and brought it to their attention, but he knew he'd be out of the loop now that they had what they needed.

Somehow he and Kate felt the same way, and both slumped in their seats as the long day continued.


End file.
